Trust
by Tia-Chan18
Summary: Ichigo helps Orihime feel better after she felt jealous over another girl. IchiHime


"So why are we doing this again? I thought you trusted Ichigo."

"It's not **him** that I don't trust. It's **her**."

"What's gotten into you 'Hime? Ever since you and Ichigo started dating, you've been more paranoid of other girls going near him."

Knowing that Rukia was right, Orihime kept her mouth shut. It's true that she had become more paranoid of other women. But she couldn't help it. The logical part of her mind told her that Ichigo would always be hers, and she would always be his.

But the woman part of her told her not to take any chances. She didn't want to be a paranoid girlfriend. That's not the girl Ichigo fell in love with.

However, they only started dating a couple months ago, after the winter war. And though Rukia already knew that Orihime was jealous of her, she was still her best friend. In fact, her jealousy over Rukia's and Ichigo's close relationship only made their friendship that much stronger.

In the end, there was nothing for her to be jealous about. Ichigo really liked her, and even got the courage to ask her out on a date. Not only was she giddy and bubblier, she was relieved. Knowing that Ichigo felt the same way made her entire world that much brighter.

She wasn't stupid. She realized that over the past couple months, Ichigo had gotten sexier. If anything, she was the first one to notice. But she had also noticed how much attention he'd been getting at school. She didn't think her boyfriend would've gotten all the attention that she had to deal with since she entered high school.

All the girls that had been terrified of his image ended up drooling each time he walked by, and glared at her for being near him.

Not only did this make her more self-conscious, it really bugged the hell outta her.

Orihime wasn't one to get mad at a girl for liking a guy. Her friends didn't see Ichigo that way and she was extremely grateful for that. She was lucky to be blessed with having friends that supported her relationship with the strawberry.

But that didn't stop them from gossiping about the new girl that went to their school.

Her name was Senna. And ever since her first day, she'd been following Ichigo around. Now normally, this wouldn't have bothered Orihime because she was used to Ichigo getting all the attention.

However, she didn't like Senna; at all.

There was something about her that screamed "danger!" in Hime's head. She wasn't sure if it was her looks, or how her personality was similar to hers. But she didn't like when Ichigo hung out with her.

Of course, Orihime never told Ichigo this. She didn't want to stop Ichigo from being friends with anyone because her "womanly instincts" didn't like that one person. She never wanted to be an inconvenience to her boyfriend. But she wasn't sure how much longer she could hide her true feelings from him.

"Hime, you do realize that Ichigo can sense your reiatsu right? He's so connected to you that even if you tried to hide it, he could easily tell when you're following him."

She looked at the raven-haired girl with wide eyes.

"Ichigo may not say it, but he really does care for you. And ever since the war, he's been training to detect reiatsu. Plus, he spends all his free time with you. Surely by now he should be able to sense your presence. Otherwise he's extremely dense."

Squeaking mentally in her head, Orihime began to run towards her apartment.

If what Rukia said was true, she was definitely going to be in trouble tonight.

* * *

><p>Walking into Orihime's place that night felt different than most. To Ichigo, he felt like the biggest idiot out there.<p>

Why hadn't he notice her jealousy towards Senna? He was supposed to be her boyfriend and yet he never noticed the changes in her whenever he hung out with the girl. Usually he'd shrug it off as Hime having a bad day.

But to think she'd be jealous over Senna? It almost made him want to laugh. It's just as ridiculous as her jealousy over Rukia. Not that Ichigo could blame her. To everyone, it looked like him and Rukia were dating because they spent so much time together.

To think that others would assume that Ichigo was cheating on Orihime with Senna would be just the most absurd accusation someone could make.

Shutting the door to her apartment, Ichigo kicked off his shoes and sat beside her on the couch. To someone else, it would look like she was watching the television. But Ichigo wasn't stupid. She was really staring into space.

Taking her hand, he placed it against his chest, causing her to turn towards him. Her eyes gave away everything. Fear, guilt and anger were all mixed together within those gray orbs.

Pulling her into his chest, Ichigo whispered in her ear. "I'm an idiot."

She gasped as she pulled back. "Ichigo! You're not an idiot! If anyone's an idiot, it's me. I didn't tell you that I felt jealous of Senna."

"Yeah, but I should've been more aware of your feelings. We are dating after all. What kind of a boyfriend am I if I don't notice my girl's insecurities?"

"Ichigo… Just because I'm jealous of a girl doesn't mean you can't hang out with them. I don't want to be one of those girlfriends that won't let her boyfriend hang out with girls because she's got jealousy issues. I would've been one of those girls if I told you how I felt."

"Hime, our relationship is based on trust. If you can't tell me that you're jealous of one girl, how will I know if something else is bothering you? You can't keep boxing me out like that. You have to tell me sometimes."

She knew he was right. And the one thing she didn't want was for Ichigo to not trust her. She trusted him so much. It wouldn't be fair if she didn't trust him.

"Ichigo, I do trust you. I just don't want to burden you with the small things. Being jealous of Senna happens to be one of those burdens. I want to be able to deal with it on my own. I don't want to tell you each time I get jealous of some person. It only means that I don't trust that our relationship is strong enough."

"Hime, if there's one thing you don't need to worry about, it's me leaving you. I'm not going to cheat on you with another girl. I'm not going to break up with you. And finally, I would never get mad at you for wanting to deal with your own problems. I just wanted to let you know that you can count on me to be there if you ever wanted to talk."

She nodded as he pulled her into his chest. After being so open and honest with Ichigo, she had felt so exhausted.

If there was one thing she learned that day, it was to never keep secrets hidden from her boyfriend.


End file.
